Tag Archives: World Health Organization

“We will have to put poor people from affected communities at the centre of our response. We will have to organise and mobilise. And then be willing to hold our governments to account.” ~ Anele Yawa, General Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign A turning point for tuberculosis? This could be a big year […]

In January this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) renewed its focus on physical inactivity, a key risk factor for the worldwide epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Encouraging and creating universal opportunities for physical activity is a complex, potentially costly exercise for governments, involving a wide range of public and private actors. Fresh global attention […]

In January this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) renewed its focus on physical inactivity, a key risk factor for the worldwide epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Encouraging and creating universal opportunities for physical activity is a complex, potentially costly exercise for governments, involving a wide range of public and private actors. Fresh global attention […]

This post was written by Lawrence O. Gostin, Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and University Professor, Georgetown and Alexandra Phelan, an Adjunct Professor in Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center and Doctoral Researcher with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. Any questions about […]

Yesterday, the World Health Organization announced that the Zika virus was “spreading explosively” in the Americas and that as many as three to four million people in the region could be infected in the next year. 23 countries and territories in the region have already reported cases of infection with the virus. Zika is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which also transmits […]

Excitement and promise are the prevailing reactions to the interim results of the Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOB (also known as the “Canadian vaccine”) trial. To date, the vaccine has proven 100% successful and shown to have few side effects, which particularly impressive for a live vaccine. In addition, it has been well tolerated. As expected, many […]

The West African Ebola epidemic has demonstrated that the world remains ill-prepared to respond to infectious disease outbreaks. A host of institutions are now reviewing what went wrong, and new institutions are being considered, including an African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Bank-initiated Pandemic Emergency Facility. The World Health Organization itself failed […]

Author’s Note: Since this was published, the World Health Organization has announced that, for the first time in its history, the deliberations of the Plenary, Committee A and Committee B will be webcast and available to the general public. Live webcasts can be viewed here. In 10 days, delegates from World Health Organization member states will gather to […]

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The views reflected in this blog are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent those of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law or Georgetown University. This blog is solely informational in nature, and not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed and retained attorney in your state or country.